Walker Software Weblog

I thought I should actually try to get a post in before January is over. In 2008, I intend to write shorter posts and post more often. I also intend to work on my grammar and proofreading. BTW, the current theme on the blog is sort of a experiment. It will likely change over the next few months. What can I say, I’ve been busy.

I’ve intended to write a review of Lineform for over a year now — I registered before Freeverse took over the distribution. It’s been a while. Instead, I’ll simply say I like Lineform and I use it at least 3 days a week. It is not the most stable piece of software, but it gets the job done.

Now, VectorDesigner is out and I just downloaded the demo. It shows allot of promise. If it proves itself more stable than Lineform, I just might buy it. It seems to have all of Lineform’s features out of the gate and a Flikr browser, polygon and star tools, and raster-to-vector convertor. It has a iWork style inspector and, unlike Pixelmator, knows when to use HUD style windows without going overboard.

Update

Two major strikes against VectorDesigner. No SVG export and the gradients only work between two colors. Lineform has and SVG export/import and gradients can be built from any number of colors.

Over the past few months I’ve worked on a project involving the Pepper Pad 3. I can’t say much about the project, but I’d like to talk about the Pepper Pad itself. The “Pad” is sort of typical of mobile PC-style platform; wireless network access, touch screen, camera, ~20GB HD, and a “use-it-as-last-resort” button-laden keyboard. The Pad’s special features are an IR blaster so it can mimic a remote and it runs Linux. Whenever I show the Pepper Pad to someone, their first words are “I want one!” But after playing with it for 10 minutes the reactions cools to “If someone gave it to me, I might use it.” Well, it should be noted that this device is aimed at the home consumer market, hence the IR Blaster and lack of spreadsheets or proprietary email protocols.

(Continued)